In Makati, Manila, and around the Philippines, high-rise (or multiple floor) residential buildings are referred to as condominium units. The term “apartment” is seldom, if ever used, unless by expats (foreigners.) As an expat myself from the USA, I decided to research the difference between an apartment and a condo and share my findings. Both terms are seemingly the same, or are they? Here we will explore the various differences that do exist:
According to multiple sources, a standard to differentiate an Apartment unit from a Condo unit is simple: Apartments are rented, while Condos are owned. Let’s break this definition down some more, starting with Apartment buildings. Apartments are typically a multiple unit building with private ownership (person or corporation) that manage the building and collect rent fees. Condominium buildings are also multiple unit buildings that have sold each unit to private people or companies that share the cost of building administration and management. Condominium owners will either live in their owned unit, lease it to a tenant, or sell it.
Apartment buildings can progress to a Condominium building when the building owner decides to sell the units to private owners. In the Philippines, from what I have seen, the multiple-unit residential buildings are pre-sold condominiums. This means that a company will buy a piece of land capable of hosting a multiple-unit building, and then create model units and floorplans to pre-sell. Construction on a new condominium building does not begin until enough units are sold to begin the building process.
Another belief is that the term “condo” is held in higher regard than “apartment,” meaning that people could regard a condo unit as being more classy and upscale than an apartment unit. This could make sense if an Apartment building owner does not want to invest much in his property and lets the units deteriorate. However, the same could be said when renting a Condominium unit from a landlord that also does not want to invest more money into his property, and let’s his rental unit deteriorate. Lesson learned: know and trust your landlord before renting an apartment or condo.
To sum it up, the majority of multi-unit residential property in Makati are condominiums. This is because the units of a condominium building are individually owned. There are very few actual apartment buildings in Makati according to the definition above. A popular apartment building is Fraser Place on Valero Street.
Don’t worry yourself too much. When you tell us you would like to rent a condo or apartment we will know what you mean. Likewise, when you let us know you’re looking to buy a condo, we know what you mean. When you tell us you would like to buy an apartment we will know what you mean as well!
